Jerusalem announces new construction in sensitive areas claimed by Palestinians

The Obama administration on Monday harshly criticized top Mideast ally Israel over new settlement construction plans in areas the Palestinians claim for a future state and urged it to rethink them.

The White House and State Department said the plans run counter to long-standing U.S. policy, particularly as they relate to a sensitive piece of land outside Jerusalem known as E1.

“We reiterate our long- standing opposition to Israeli settlement activity and east Jerusalem construction,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “We oppose all unilateral actions, including settlement activity and housing construction as they complicate efforts to resume direct, bilateral negotiations and risk prejudging the outcome of those negotiations and this including building in the so called E-1 area.”

Israel on Friday announced that it would move ahead on plans to build 3,000 settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem on territory the Palestinians claim as theirs to punish the Palestinians for winning U.N. recognition.

Five European nations summoned Israeli ambassadors to lodge formal protests against the construction push.

However, an official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that despite the strong diplomatic backlash, Israel would not back down.

“Israel will continue to stand by its vital interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision that was made,” said the official, who was not authorized to talk on the record. He added that the Palestinians’ U.N. bid violated agreements with Israel that had been “guaranteed by the international community.”

The wave of condemnation strained Israel’s relations with Washington and deepened a rift with European allies that had abstained from or voted for a General Assembly resolution that elevated the Palestinians’ status at the United Nations.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Britain and France were considering recalling their ambassadors to Israel, but French and British officials denied the report.

Germany and Russia also expressed strong displeasure over the Israeli moves, warning that they undermined efforts to resume peace negotiations. Netanyahu is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed “grave concern and disappointment,” warning that building in the E-1 area “would represent an almost fatal blow to the remaining chances of securing a two-state solution.”